Boxer Josh Warrington emulated the celebration of Leeds United defender Luke Ayling after he stopped Kiko Martinez in round seven to become world champion for the second time. Warrington performed the Robbie Keane routine (a cartwheel and forward roll) in the ring after the referee brought a halt to proceedings, just like Ayling did eight days prior following his late winner at Wolves.
Warrington walked out alongside Ayling at the First Direct Arena on Saturday evening before reclaiming his IBF featherweight title. The likes of Liam Cooper and Kalvin Phillips were also present ringside to watch the Leeds Warrior get back to winning ways.
Here's five more iconic celebrations from Leeds players over the years.
READ MORE: Leeds United news as Josh Warrington emulates Luke Ayling after becoming world champion
Robbie Keane
Of course, it's impossible not to mention Robbie Keane first in this list. Not just at Leeds, but throughout his career, Keane was renowned for how he celebrated every goal the same way – with a cartwheel, followed by a forward roll.
The former Leeds and Tottenham striker perfected the routine by the end of his career and could do with teaching Ayling a thing or two after his attempt at Molineux.
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
Again, another celebration that involves a cartwheel is Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s. An interesting fact about Jimmy's routine is that England’s record goal scorer Wayne Rooney used to copy it as a kid, and to this day his childhood friends still call him Jimmy for that reason.
Max Gradel
Cameroon striker Roger Miller was the foundation of Max Gradel’s corner flag celebration when he netted a brace in 2-0 win over QPR in December 2010. Miller famously performed a dance around the corner flag at the World Cup in 1990 after scoring for his country.
Gradel then produced the exact same celebration as Miller when he netted his second of the game in front of the South Stand to cap a superb victory over table-topping Rangers.
Ezgjan Alioski
Perhaps one of the stranger celebrations witnessed at Elland Road down the years was when Ezgjan Alioski gathered all of his Leeds teammates in front of the Kop after scoring in a win against Bolton Wanderers in 2019. It is difficult to explain what they were trying to do, but they all lined up next to each other, put their arms in the air and started shimmying.
The likelihood is only Alioski really knew what was going on in this routine, which was a pretty good summary of the North Macedonian’s persona.
Luke Ayling
There’s been a few iconic Ayling celebrations down the years during his time at Leeds but none more so than his 'rockstar' effort against Huddersfield Town. In the last game before the 2020 lockdown, Ayling thundered in a volley off the underside of the crossbar to put Leeds ahead early on against their West Yorkshire neighbours.
He then proceeded to sprint towards the dugout, let his hair out of his man bun, and mimic playing an electric guitar. One of the staple moments of Leeds’ promotion campaign.
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